bastillon wrote:Quincy wrote:Gasol is not a top-ten all-time talent.
Kobe's role during the 3-peat is far more important than 05-06 Shaq.
He was the second best player but was putting up 1st option numbers. Keep that in mind.
how is Kobe 00 putting any numbers close to 1st option ? he was barely #2 guy if you consider his choke act in the finals (or was it 01 ?).
Kobe 01 > Shaq 06 = Kobe 02 >> Kobe 00
00 he was clearly 2nd option.
01 and 02 kobe was on a 1st option level, if you disagree there are more than enough people old enough who saw him play, with numbers backing up our argument, that this was one of the most dominant and unique partnerships in nba history.
you can most definitely make the argument that even a prime jordan would have been shaq's "2nd option". reason being that basketball is a game of matchups. you take the path of least resistance. that path is prime shaq in this case, no matter who the wing player is.